It's the end of an era for a West Hollywood movie house that has been a mainstay of the independent cinemascene for the last 20 years.

Laemmle Theatres will stop operating the Sunset 5 at the end of the
month after being unable to come to terms with the landlord on a new
lease.

Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas will take over the five-screen
complex Dec. 1 and will temporarily close it for renovations, with plans
to reopen in late spring. This marks the entry of Westlake
Village-based exhibitor into the Los Angeles area. Sundance Cinemas
operates theaters in Madison, Wis., San Francisco and Houston.

Fans line up for the screening of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles in the fall of 2006.

Although the Sunset 5 will remain operational, the loss of Laemmle as
its programmer marks a significant shift for the independent film
business in the Los Angeles area. Filmmakers such as Catherine
Hardwicke ("Thirteen"), Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects") and Bill
Condon ("Gods and Monsters") had their films premiere at the movie house
on Sunset Boulevard near Crescent Heights.

"I've seen so many inspiring films at the Sunset 5 -- movies you
couldn't see anywhere else," Hardwicke said. "Then I got lucky and my
directorial debut, 'Thirteen,' screened there. It was a real honor to do
a Q&A in this iconic indie theatre. I even had a heckler in a fake
beard and mustache and a stalker chick that made her own fliers for the
screening. I'll miss the Laemmle vibe, but I'm glad to hear that the
theater will reopen in the spring."

Robotech fans pack the inside one of the theatres!

Over the years, the programming for the theater became more of a
challenge as first-rate art house titles were attracted to higher-end
cinemas in the area, specifically Pacific Theatres at the Grove, which
took over the location in late 2002; the Arclight Hollywood, which
opened in 2003; and the Landmark Theatres on Pico Boulevard, which
launched in 2007.

“Ever since the Arclight and the Grove opened, we lost some
attendance,"

said Greg Laemmle, president of Laemmle Theatres. “We still
had hit films such as ‘Monster’ [starring Charlize Theron] and ‘Half
Nelson’ [starring Ryan Gosling] along the way. But we started seeing
fewer and fewer of them. Distributors were under pressure to get into
the Arclight.”

While its a good thing Sundance is taking over it is a downer to see
this era end. At least we can say Robotech was part of this great era of
indie film in Los Angeles!